


My Favorite Shirt

by tttresss



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Slice of Life, jaeficfest, jaeficfest2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26515087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tttresss/pseuds/tttresss
Summary: Jae is leaving for New York for a work opportunity, leaving Wonpil behind. Wonpil reminisces of their story through Jae's shirts, and how they are attached to their story.
Relationships: Kim Wonpil/Park Jaehyung | Jae
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24
Collections: Jae Fic Fest 2020





	My Favorite Shirt

**Author's Note:**

> The "memories" are the italicized ones.

"I got the job in New York." Jae told Wonpil while they were having dinner that night. 

"New York?" Wonpil looked up at him, confused. "I thought you didn't make it." 

"Yes, but then they called me. There was a mix-up. And so I got in. It was my dream job and I'm so ecstatic to hear that I got the job." He said, looking really excited. 

"Wow! I always knew you had it in you. Congratulations!" Wonpil said, looking so proud of Jae, his boyfriend. 

"You'll be okay, right?" He asked Wonpil with worry evident on his face. 

"Of course! It's not like you will leave tomorrow right away. Don't worry I'll be okay." Wonpil answered. 

That was 6 weeks ago. Now, he isn't sure if he is okay, or just numb with the thought of Jae being far away from him. 

"You'll help me with my things, right?" Jae appeared in the kitchen, holding his navy blue windbreaker. Wonpil is preparing their lunch. 

He remembered that windbreaker. That was what Jae wore the first time they met three years ago. 

_"Bro, where are you?" Dowoon called Wonpil._

_"Just arrived."_

_"Okay! Here! I saw you!" Wonpil saw Dowoon and they hung up._

_Wonpil was taken aback when he realized that Dowoon brought someone. His introvert self was panicking._

_"Bro, why are you standing there?" Dowoon was confused. He walked towards the table where Dowoon and his friend was. "This is Jae. My friend from work. Jae, this is Wonpil, a friend from College." Dowoon introduced them to each other._

_Jae offered his hand and Wonpil took it. Jae was a tall, fair and slim guy. He looked so small, thinking that his not that short. But when Jae stood up to offer his hand, he towered over Wonpil._

_Wonpil felt really awkward with the two people he was with. Good thing Dowoon was a chatter, all he had to do was nod, and answer, and sometimes banter._

_He was sitting across them, so sometimes he will catch Jae looking at him, which made him really conscious._

_They stayed there for more than an hour before Jae had to leave. When Jae left, he followed him with his gaze until he couldn't see him anymore._

_"He is a nice guy." He said before he can stop himself. Dowoon snorted and nodded._

"Yes. I will help you, of course." He answered. 

"I figured, I'll pack my things later this week." Jae added. 

"Just prepare the things you're bringing." Jae nodded then returned to their room. 

The following day, Jae left early in the morning. He said he will be going to his parents' home to take some things he will be bringing to New York. Wonpil was about to accompany him, but his work called, while he was on leave, and he needed to report to the office. 

Wonpil inspected the clothes Jae piled up on their sofa. He saw the white button down shirt, with orange collar, among the pile. 

_He was at the mall that day, just window shopping, when he saw a familiar face inside a clothes shop. When he confirmed that it was Jae, he walked inside to show himself. Jae was taking a selfie when he decided to photobomb. Jae was surprised when he saw Wonpil in the photo._

_"Hey." Wonpil said._

_"What are you doing here?" Jae asked, smiling._

_"Just..walking?" He suddenly was tongue-tied. "You?"_

_"Same. Same. You had lunch?" Jae asked._

_"Nope." He answered, though he just had his brunch before going out._

_"Good. Let's eat." Jae took his arm and dragged him to a restaurant._

_"I'm buying groceries after this, you?" Jae asked Wonpil while they were eating._

_"Same." He took a mental note on the things and food he suddenly needed in his apartment._

_"Cool!" Jae smiled, and he couldn't help but smile as well._

_True enough, after they had their lunch, they went straight to the supermarket. Wonpil was so fascinated at how Jae was so independent, that he really knew what to buy and not._

_After the trip to the supermarket, they called it a day. But before they separated they exchanged numbers, so that they could inform one another if they got home safely. Wonpil knew it was just an excuse, on his part mostly._

Wonpil also saw the gray shirt that Jae wore the first time they decided to hang out, not by chance, not with Dowoon, but a scheduled hangout with only the two of them. He remembered how surprised he was when he saw Jae walking towards him and seeing his shirt and how the color was similar to the shirt he was wearing. 

They were also wearing jackets that day, and it looked like they planned their outfits, except that they did not even touch the topic of the clothes they will be wearing that day. Jae was the first one to say the coincidence out loud, saying how they were so in sync. 

It was a recurring topic for them during the time they were getting along and trying to know more of each other. They liked the same things, same food, and even movies. Jae said maybe they were soulmates. Wonpil, on the other hand, thought it was really just coincidence. He dismissed everything Jae was telling him, like the soulmates thing. 

"But look at us now." He smiled at that thought. 

\-----

Jae stayed at his parents' home overnight. Wonpil met up with Dowoon that night. 

"Are you ready when Jae leaves?" Dowoon asked in the middle of their drinking session. He sighed.

"I don't know. I should be happy, right? This is his dream." 

"But?" 

"But, I don't know if I can take being away from him. I mean, for three years, we are together, he is my support. Now, he will be away, for God knows how long. Can we do that? The LDR thing? Are we fit for that?" He said, frustration is evident on his face. 

" You will never know if you will never try." Dowoon answered, and he knew he was right. They had to try it first, but he was still uneasy. 

\----

"Bub, you remember this shirt?" Jae was holding up a dark blue and white striped button down shirt. Jae was teasing, and Wonpil knew it right away.

Jae was wearing that shirt the day they were hanging out, and Wonpil was so stressed out at work that he got drunk. He couldn't handle alcohol that well. He got so drunk that Jae had to support him out of the bar they were at. 

Before they can even step outside the bar, Wonpil vomited right on Jae's shirt. He didn't even remember what happened when Jae told him about it the other day. He almost didn't believe it, but saw the shirt on his balcony. He immediately called Jae to say sorry, but Jae just laughed it off. 

Three days after that incident, Jae "returned the favor" when he got so drunk during a company get together, and he called Wonpil to help him. Wonpil had to carry Jae, because the tall guy couldn't even stand up. 

"You. I l-" Before Jae could even finish his sentence, he fell asleep. 

\---

They were packing Jae's things and Wonpil saw Jae's mustard shirt he was folding up. 

_"There." Jae was in Wonpil's apartment. They had been dating for two weeks now, though everything was a bliss, they really hadn't told people about them. "You should be getting a notification by now." Jae added._

_True enough, Jae posted on Instagram and tagged him. When he opened it, his eyes couldn't get any bigger with surprise._

_'I love you so much, bub.' That was the caption of their photo. Jae was wearing the mustard shirt and Wonpil was wearing a dark green shirt. This photo was taken yesterday, when they were at the mall, and just.. walking._

_Dowoon was calling him. He probably saw the post already. He answered._

_"I can't believe I played Cupid for both of you!" Wonpil was laughing when he heard what Dowoon said. Jae asked him who it was and when he knew it was Dowoon, he took the phone._

_"Thank you pal!" he said._

_"You owe me dinner." Dowoon said jokingly, but Jae agreed and asked Dowoon to set a date for the dinner._

_"It's just dinner. I owe you big time, no biggie." Jae said before hanging up._

_"I guess it's Instagram official. We are dating." Jae said, looking at Wonpil with a happy face._

_"We are dating, period. No need for that, but it feels good. The world now knows you are mine." Wonpil answered._

_"And you are mine, as well." Jae smiled._

"You okay?" Jae caught Wonpil staring at the shirt. 

"Bub.." Wonpil breathed in. "We can do this, right? We can overcome this, right?" Panic was slightly kicking in. 

"Of course! We will make it work. We are a team, we can do this. Do you want me not to leave? I can do that." 

"No! That's your dream." 

"You are my dream, too." 

"But I can wait. That dream can't wait." 

"There, you said it. You will wait. I will wait also. We will make this work. We already have a plan and goal. We will achieve it." 

"I'm sorry if I am being like this." 

"It's okay." Jae sat beside Wonpil and hugged him. "You softie. I love you. I believe in us." Jae hugged him tighter. 

They finished packing Jae's things with a lot of crying and laughing, while reminiscing the memories some of Jae's clothes brings.

He saw the green shirt Jae was wearing when he moved in with Wonpil. He bought that shirt so he could wear something new when he moved in. 

Wonpil also packed Jae's jacket, the black one with the zipper going up to the hood. He also put their photo of one of their travels where he was wearing that jacket.

\----

Wonpil accompanied Jae to the airport. Today was his flight to New York, and they did not know when they would see each other again, face to face. Wonpil tried not to cry, but Jae could see how sad Wonpil was.

"Bub, I'm still alive. You look like I died." Jae said jokingly, trying to brighten the mood.

"I will miss you bub. Really really miss you." Wonpil answered. 

"We will make this work, okay? I will call you right away when I can, okay? We are strong. We can do this." 

"We can do this." 

Jae entered the airport, waving and smiling at Wonpil. "I love you", he mouthed. Wonpil answered the same thing. 

When Wonpil got home, he noticed a paper bag sitting on the sofa. He panicked, thinking that Jae forgot it. He opened the bag and saw Jae's pink shirt, and a note. 

_A week after the drunk Jae incident, Jae and Wonpil decided to meet up again. They went straight to Wonpil's apartment after they went grocery shopping. They decided to cook dinner, instead of buying._

_Jae cooked, and Wonpil cleaned after. They were having such a good time, when Jae mentioned the soulmates thing again._

_"Do you believe that we are soulmates?" Jae asked Wonpil when they were at the living area after their meal._

_"I don't know." He did not want to think that Jae likes him. He would rely too much on that assumption, and things will get awkward._

_"I do." Jae answered, then stood up. "I better get going. I enjoyed this day." Jae said._

_"Me too." Wonpil said._

_Jae was at the door when he turned around and walked towards Wonpil, who was standing at the living area. He stopped in front of Wonpil, and whispered._

_"I really really really like you, not just as a friend. You know what I mean. And if you feel the same, tell me, because I'm going crazy thinking of you every time." Jae did not give Wonpil time to respond because he was out the door right away after he said those words._

_Wonpil was frozen on the spot. He was trying to process everything Jae had said. And before he knew it, he was calling Jae to say,_

_"I like you too. Really, really, really like you. And I was crazy to think that you never felt the same."_

_After a minute, Jae was back in his apartment, breathing hard because he ran up the stairs._

The note said, 

'Bub, this is my favorite shirt. You know how significant this shirt is in our relationship, and I want you to keep it and take care of it. I'll return, I promise. I love you.'

The pink shirt. That was the shirt he was wearing that day. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tweaked a bit on the prompt given. 
> 
> "countdown before jae leaves to work somewhere else for god knows how long and each day wonpil picks a piece of clothing jae left behind his apartment to wear himself and reminisce on what happened the day jae left them"
> 
> The photo inspirations for the Jae's shirts are on my twt thread. https://twitter.com/tttresss/status/1306678350719537154?s=19


End file.
